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A NARRATIVE 


OF THE 


ADVENTURES AND ESCAPE 


OF 



ROPER, 

a 7 


FROM 


AMERICAN SLAVERY 


WITH A PREFACE, 

BY THE REV. T. PRICE, D. D. 


“ Slaves cannot breathe in Eugland ; if their lungs 
Receive our air, that moment they are free ; 
They touch our country, and their shackles fall. 
That’s noble 1 and bespeaks a nation proud 
And jealous of the blessing. Spread it, then, 
And let it circulate through ev’ry vein.” 


FIRST AME 



EDITION. 


PHILADELPHIA: 
PHINTF.D BT MF.KRIHEW AND GUNN, 
No. 7 Carter's Alley. 





IV. 


PREFACE. 


that if he should receive an education, he would be able 
to counteract the false and wicked misrepresentations of 
American slavery, which are made in your country by our 
Priests and Levites who visit you.” 

Dr. Morison, as might have been anticipated from his 
well-known character, heartily responded to the appeal of 
his American correspondent. He sent his letter to the 
Patriot newspaper, remarking, in his own communication 
to the editor, “I have seen Moses Roper, the fugitive 
slave. He comes to this country, as you will perceive, 
well authenticated as to character and religious standing; 
and my anxiety is, that the means may forthwith be 
supplied by some of your generous readers, for placing 
him in some appropriate seminary, for the improvement 
of his mind, that he may be trained for future usefulness 
in the church. Hi3 thirst for knowledge is great; and 
he may yet become a most important agent in liberating 
his country from the curse of slavery.” 

Moses Roper brought with him to this country several 
other testimonies, from persons residing in different parts 
of the States ; but it is unnecessary to extend this Preface 
by quoting them. They all speak the same language, 
and bear unequivocal witness to his sobriety, intelligence, 
and honesty. 

He is now in the land of freedom, and is earnestly de¬ 
sirous of availing himself of the advantages of his position. 


PREFACE. 


V. 


His greqj ambition i9 to be qualified for usefulness 
amongst his own people; and the progress he has already 
made, justifies the belief, that, if the means of education 
can be secured for a short time longer, he will be emi¬ 
nently qualified to instruct the children of Africa in the 
truths of the gospel of Christ. He has drawn up the 
following narrative, partly with the hope of being assisted 
in this legitimate object, and partly to engage the sympa¬ 
thies of our countrymen on behalf of his oppressed 
brethren. J trust, that he will not be disappointed in 
either of these expectations, but that all the friends of 
humanity and religion among us will cheerfully render 
him their aid, by promoting the circulation of his volume, 
•Should this be done to the extent that is quite possible, 
the difficulties now lying in his way will be removed. 

Of the narrative itself, it is not necessary that I should 
say much. It is his own production, and carries with it inter¬ 
nal evidence of truth. Some of its statements will probably 
startle those readers who are unacquainted with the de¬ 
tails of the slave system ; but no such feeling will be 
produced in any who are conversant with the practice of 
slavery, whether in America or in ourow'n colonies. There 
is no vice too loathsome—no passion too cruel or remorse¬ 
less, to be engendered by this horrid system. It brutal¬ 
izes all who administer it, and seeks to efface the like¬ 
ness of God, stamped on the brow of its victims. It 

A* 


VI. 


PREFACE. 


makes the former class demons, and reduces the latter to 
the level of brutes. 

I could easily adduce from the records of our own 
slave sytem, as well as from those of America, several 
instances of equal atrocity to any which Moses Roper 
has recorded. But this is unnecessary, and I shall 
therefore merely add the unqualified expression of my 
own confidence in the truth of his narrative, and my 
strong recommendation of it to the patronage of the Bri¬ 
tish Public. 

Thomas Price. 

Hackney, July 22d, 


INTRODUCTION. 


The determination of laying this little narrative before 
the public, did not arise from any desire to make myself 
conspicuous, but with the view of exposing the cruel 
system of slavery, as will here be laid before my readers ; 
from the urgent calls of nearly all the friends to whom I 
had related any part of the story, and also from the re¬ 
commendation of anti-slavery meetings, which I have 
attended, through the suggestion of many warm friends 
of the cause of the oppressed. 

The general narrative, I am aware, may seem to many 
of my readers, and especially to those who have not been 
before put in possession of the actual features of this 
accursed system, somewhat at variance with the dictates 
of humanity. But the facts related here, do not come 
before the reader unsubstantiated by collateral evidence, 
nor highly colored to the disadvantage of cruel task¬ 
masters. 

My readers may be putin possession of facts respecting 
this system which equal in cruelty my own narrative, on 
an authority which may be investigated with the greatest 



INTRODUCTION. 


viii. 

satisfaction. Besides which, this little book will not be 
confined to a small circle of my own friends in London, 
or even in England. The slaveholder, the colonizationist, 
and even Mr. Gooch himself, will be able to obtain this 
document, and be at liberty to draw from it whatever 
they are honestly able, in order to set me down as the 
tool of a party. Yea, even friend Breckenridge, a gentle¬ 
man known at Glasgow, will be able to possess this, and 
to draw from it all the forcible arguments on his own side, 
which in his wisdom, honesty, and candor, he may be able 
to adduce. 

The earnest wish to lay this narrative before my friends 
as an impartial statement of facts, has led me to develope 
some part of my conduct which I now deeply deplore. 
The ignorance in which the poor slaves are kept by their 
masters, precludes almost the possibility of their being 
alive to any moral duties. 

With these remarks, I leave the statement before the 
public. May this little volume be the instrument of 
opening the eyes of the ignorant to this system—of con¬ 
vincing the wicked, cruel, and hardened slaveholder— 
and of befriending generally the cause of oppressed hu¬ 
manity. 

Moses Roper, 


London^ June 28, 1837. 


ESCAPE, &c. 


I was born in North Carolina, in Caswell county. 
I am not able to tell in what_year or month. What 
I shall now relate, is what was told me by my mo¬ 
ther and grandmother. A few months before I was 
born, my father married my mother’s young mis¬ 
tress. As soon as my father’s wife heard of my 
birth, she sent one of my mother’s sisters to see 
whether I was white or black, and when my aunt 
had seen me, she returned back as soon as she could, 
and told her mistress that I was white, and resem¬ 
bled Mr. Roper very much. Mr. R.’s wife being 
not pleased with this report, she got a large club 
stick and knife, and hastened to the place in which 
my mother was confined. She went into my mo¬ 
ther’s room with full intention to murder me with 
her knife and club, but as she was goingto stick the 
knife into me, my grandmother happening to come 
in, caught the knife and saved my life. But as well 
as I can recollect from what my mother told me, my 
father sold her and myself soon after her confine¬ 
ment. I cannot recollect any thing that is worth 
notice till I was six or seven years old. My mother 
being half white and my father a white man, I was 



10 


MOSES ROPER’S 


at that time very white. Soon after I was six or 
seven years of age, my mother’s old master died, 
that is my father’s wife’s father. All his slaves had 
to be divided among the children.* I have mention¬ 
ed before of my father disposing of me; 1 am not 
sure whether he exchanged me and my mother for 
another slave or not, but think it very likely he did 
exchange me with one of his wife’s brothers or sis¬ 
ters, because I remember when my mother’s old 
master died, I was living with my father’s wdfe’s 
brother-in-law, whose name was Mr. Durham. My 
mother was drawn with the other slaves. 

The way they divide their slaves is this: they 
write the names of different slaves on a small piece 
of paper, and put it into a box and let them all draw. 
I think that Mr. Durham drew my mother, and Mr. 
Fowler drew me, so we were separated a consider¬ 
able distance, I cannot say how far. My resembling 
my father so very much, and being whiter than the 
other slaves, caused me to be soon sold to what 
they call a negro trader, who took me to the South¬ 
ern States of America, several hundred miles from 
my mother. As well as I can recollect, I was then 
about six years old. The trader, Mr. Michael, after 

travelling several hundred miles, and selling a good 

) 

* Slaves are usually a part of the marriage portion, but lent 
rather than given, to he returned to the estate at the decease of the 
father, in order that they may be divided equally among his 
children. 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


11 


many of his slaves, found he could not sell me very 
well, (as I was so much whiter than the other slaves 
were,) for he had been trying several months—left 
me with a Mr. Sneed, who kept a large boarding 
house, who took me to wait at table, and sell me if 
he could. I think I stayed with Mr. Sneed about a 
year, but he could not sell me. When Mr. Michael 
had sold his slaves, he went to the North and brought 
up another drove, and returned to the South with 
them, and sent his son-in-law into Washington, in 
Georgia, after me, so he came and took me from 
Mr. Sneed, and met his father-indaw with me, in a 
town called Lancaster, with his drove of slaves. We 
staved in Lancaster a week, because it was court 
week, and there were a great many people there, 
and it was a good opportunity for selling the slaves, 
and there he was enabled to sell me to a gentleman, 
Dr. Jones, who was both a doctor and a cotton 
planter. He took me into his shop to beat up and 
to mix medicines, which was not a very hard em¬ 
ployment, but I did not keep it long, as the doctor 
soon sent me to his cotton plantation that I might 
be burnt darker by the sun. * He sent for me to be 
with a tailor to learn the trade, but all the journey¬ 
men being white men, Mr. Bryant, the tailor, did 
not let me work in the shop; I cannot say whether 
it was the prejudice of his journeymen in not want¬ 
ing me to sit in the shop with them, or whether Mr. 
Bryant wanted to keep me about the house to do the 


12 


MOSES ROPEIl’s 


domestic work instead of teaching me the trade. 
After several months my master came to know how 
I got on with the trade: I am not able to tell Mr. 
Bryant’s answer, but it was either that I could not 
learn, or that his journeymen were not willing that 
I should sit in the shop with them. I was only 
once in the shop all the time I was there, and then 
only for an hour or two, before his wife called me 
out to do some other work. So my master took me 
home, and as he was going to send a load of cotton 
to Camden, about forty miles distance, he sent me 
with the bales of cotton to be sold with it, where I 
was soon sold to a gentleman named Allen; but Mr. 
Allen soon exchanged me for a female slave to please 
his wife. The traders who bought me were named 
Cooper and Linsey, who took me for sale, but could 
not sell me, people objecting to my being rather 
white. They then took me to the city of Fayette¬ 
ville, North Carolina, where he swapped me for a boy 
that was blacker than me, to Mr. Smith, who lived 
several miles off. 

I was with Mr. Smith nearly a year. I arrived 
at the first knowledge of my age when I lived with 
him. I was then between twelve and thirteen years 
old; it was when President Jackson was elected the 
first time, and he has been president eight years, so 
I must be nearly twenty-one years of age. At this 
time I was quite a small boy, and was sold to Mr. 
Hodge, a negro trader. Here I began to enter into 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


13 


hardships. After travelling several hundred miles, 
Mr. Hodge sold me to Mr. Gooch the cotton planter, 
Cashaw county, South Carolina; he purchased me 
at a town called Liberty Hill, about three miles from 
his home. As soon as he had got home, he imme¬ 
diately put me on his cotton plantation to work and 
put me under overseers, gave me allowance of meat 
and bread with the other slaves, which was not half 
enough for me to live upon, and very laborious 
work; here my heart was almost broke with grief 
at leaving my fellow slaves. Mr. Gooch did not 
inind my grief, for he flogged me nearly every day, 
and very-severely. Mr. Gooch bought me for his 
son-in-law, Mr. Hammans, about five miles from his 
residence. This man had but two slaves besides 
myself; he treated me very kindly for a week or two, 
hut in summer when cotton was ready to hoe, he 
gave me task work connected with this department, 
which I could not get done, not having worked on 
cotton farms before. When I failed in iny task, he 
commenced flogging me, and set me to work without 
any shirt, in the field in a very hot sun, in the 
month of July. In August, Mr. Condell, his over¬ 
seer, gave me a task of pulling fodder ; having 
finished my task before night, I left the field; the 
rain came on which soaked the fodder; on discover¬ 
ing this he threatened to flog me for not getting in 
the fodder before the rain came. This was the first 
time I attempted to run away, knowing that I should 


B 


14 


MOSES ROPER’S 


get a flogging. I was then between thirteen and 
fourteen years of age, I ran away to the woods half 
naked; I was caught by a slaveholder, who put me 
in Lancaster gaol. When they put slaves in gaol 
they .advertise for their masters to own them ; but 
if the master does not claim his slave in six months 
from the time of imprisonment, the slave is sold for 
gaol fees. When the slave runs away, the master 
always adopts a more vigorous system of flogging ; 
this was the case in the present instance. After this, 
having determined from my youth to gain my free¬ 
dom, I made several attempts, was caught, and got 
a severe flogging of 100 lashes each time. Mr. 
Hammans was a very severe and cruel master, and 
his wife still worse ; she used to tie me up and flog 
me while naked. 

After Mr. Hammans saw that I was determined 
to die in the woods, and not live with him, he tried 
to obtain a piece of land from his father-in-law, Mr. 
Gooch; not having the means of purchasing it, he 
exchanged me for the land. 

As soon as Mr. Gooch had possession of me again, 
knowing that 1 was averse to going back to him, he 
chained me by the neck to his chaise. In this 
manner he took me to his home at MacDaniel’s 
Ferry, in the county of Chester, a distance, of fif¬ 
teen miles. After which, he put me into a swamp, 
to cut trees, the heaviest work which men of twenty- 
five or thirty years of age have to do, I being but 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


15 


sixteen. Here I was on very short allowance of 
food, and having heavy work, was too weak to fulfil 
my tasks. For this I got many severe Hoggings ; 
and, after I had got my irons off, I made another 
attempt at running away. He took my irons off in 
the full anticipation that I could never get across the + 
Catauba river, even when at liberty. On this I 
procured a small Indian canoe, which was tied to a 
tree, and ultimately got across the river in it. I 
then wandered through the wilderness for several 
days without any'food, and but a drop of water to 
allay my thirst, till I became so starved, that I was 
obliged to go to a house to beg for something to eat, 
when I was captured, and again imprisoned. 

Mr. Gooch having heard of me through an adver¬ 
tisement, sent his son after me ; he tied me up, and 
took me back to his father. Mr. Gooch then ob¬ 
tained the assistance of another slaveholder, and tied 
me up in his blacksmith’s shop, and gave me fifty 
lashes with a cow hide. He then put a long chain, 
weighing twenty-five pounds, round my neck, and 
sent me into a field, into which he followed me with 
the cow hide, intending to set his slaves to flog me 
again. Knowing this, and dreading to suffer again 
in this way, I gave him the slip, and got out of his 
sight, he having stopped to speak with the other 
slaveholder. 

I got to a canal on the Catauba river, on the 
banks of which, and near to a lock, I procured a 


16 


MOSES ROPER’S 


stone and a piece of iron, with which I forced the 
ring off my chain, and got it off, and then crossed 
the river, and walked about twenty miles, when I 
fell in with a slaveholder named Ballad, who had 
married the sister of Mr. Hammans. I knew that 
~he was not so cruel as Mr. Gooch, and, therefore, 
begged of him to buy me. Mr. Ballad, who was 
one of the best planters in the neighborhood, said, 
that he was not able to buy me, and stated that he 
was obliged to take me back to my master, on ac¬ 
count of the heavy fine attaching to a man harbor¬ 
ing a slave. Mr. Ballad proceeded to take me back; 
as we came in sight of Mr. Gooch’s, all the treatment 
that I had met with there came forcibly upon my 
mind, the powerful influence of which is beyond 
description. On my knees, with tears in my eyes, 
with terror in my countenance, and fervency in all 
my features, I implored Mr. Ballad to buy me, but 
he again refused, and I was taken back to my dreaded 
and cruel master. Having reached Mr. Gooch’s, he 
proceeded to punish me. This he did by first tying 
my wrists together and placing them over the knees, 
he then put a stick through, under my knees and 
over my arms, and having thus secured my arms, 
he proceeded to flog me, and gave me 500 lashes on 
the bare back! This may appear incredible, but 
the marks which they left at present remain on my 
body a standing testimony to the truth of this state¬ 
ment of his severity. He then chained me down in 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


17 


a log-pen with a forty pound chain, and made me lie 
on the damp earth all night. In the morning, after 
his breakfast, he came to me, and without giving me 
any breakfast, tied me to a large heavy barrow, 
which is usually drawn by a horse, and made me 
drag it to the cotton field for the horse to use in the^^ 
field. Thus, the reader will see, that it was of no 
possible use to my master to make me drag it to the 
field and not through it; his cruelty went so far as 
actually to make me the slave of his horse, and thus 
to degrade me. He then flogged me again, and set 
me to work in the corn field the whole of that day, 
and at night chained me down in the log-pen as be¬ 
fore. The next morning, he took me to the cotton 
field, and gave me a third flogging, and set me to 
hoe cotton. At this time, I was dreadfully sore and 
weak with the repeated floggings and harsh treatment 
I had endured. He put me under a black man, with 
orders, that if I did not keep my row up in hoeing 
with this man, he was to flog me. The reader must 
recollect here, that not being used to this kind of 
work, having been a domestic slave, it was quite 
impossible for me to keep up with him, and, there¬ 
fore, I wa 3 repeatedly flogged during the day. 

Mr. Gooch had a female slave about eighteen years 
old, who had also been a domestic slave, and through 
not being able to fulfil her task, had run away; 
which slave he was at this time punishing for that 
ofTence. On the third day, he chained me to this 

B* 


18 


MOSES ROPER’S 


female slave with a large chain of forty pounds weight, 
round the neck. It was most harrowing to my 
feelings, thus to be chained to a young female slave, 
for whom I would rather have suffered 100 lashes 
than she should have been thus treated ; he kept me 
^phained to her during the week, and repeatedly 
flogged us both while thus chained together, and 
forced us to keep up with the other slaves, although 
retarded by the heavy weight of the log chain. 

Here again words are insufficient to describe the 
misery which possessed both body and mind whilst 
under this treatment, and which was most dread¬ 
fully increased by the sympathy which I felt for 
my poor degraded fellow sufferer. On the Friday 
morning, I entreated my master to set me free from 
my chains, and promised him to do the task which 
was given me, and more, if possible, if he would 
desist from flogging me. This he refused to do 
until Saturday night, when he did set me free. This 
must rather be ascribed to his own interest in pre¬ 
serving me from death, as it was very evident I 
could no longer have survived under such treat¬ 
ment. 

After this, though still determined in my own 
mind to escape, I stayed with him several months, 
during which he frequently flogged me, but not so 
severely as before related. During this time I had 
opportunity for recovering my health, and using 
means to heal my wounds. My master’s cruelty 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


19 


was not confined to me, it was his general conduct 
to all his slaves. I might relate many instances to 
substantiate this, but will confine myself to one or 
two. Mr. Gooch, it is proper to observe, was a 
member of a Baptist church, called Black Jack 
Meeting House, in Cashaw county, which church L 
attended for several years, but was never inside. 
This is accounted for by the fact, that the colored 
population are not permitted to mix with the white 
population. Mr. Gooch had a slave named Phil,* 
who was a member of a Methodist church; this 
man was between seventy and eighty years of age ; 
he was so feeble that he could not accomplish his 
tasks, for which his master used to chain him round 
the neck, and run him down a steep hill; this treat¬ 
ment he never relinquished to the time of his death. 
Another case, was that of a slave named Peter, who, 
for not doing his task, he flogged nearly to death, 
and afterwards pulled out his pistol to shoot him, 
but his (Mr. Gooch’s) daughter snatched the pistol 
from his hand. Another mode of punishment which 
this man adopted was, that of using iron horns, with 
bells, attached to the back of the slave’s neck. 

This instrument he used to prevent the negroes 
running away, being a very ponderous machine 
seven feet in height, and the cross pieces being two 
feet four, and six feet in length. This custom is 


* This is an abbreviation of Phillip. 


20 


MOSES ROPER’S 


generally adopted among the slaveholders in South 
Carolina, and some other slave states. One morn¬ 
ing, about an hour before day break, I was going on 
an errand for my master, having proceeded about a 
quarter of a mile, I came up to a man named King, 
-WMr. Sumlin’s overseer,) who had caught a young 
girl that had run away with the above described ma¬ 
chine on her. She had proceeded four miles from 
her station with the intention of getting into the 
hands of a more humane master. She came up 
with this overseer, pearly dead, and could get no far¬ 
ther; he immediately secured her, and took her back 
to her master, a Mr. Johnston. 

Having been in the habit of going over many 
slaves states with my master, I had good opportuni¬ 
ties of witnessing the harsh treatment which was 
adopted by masters towards their slaves. As I have 
never read nor heard of any thing connected with 
slavery so cruel as what I have myself witnessed, it 
will be well to mention a case or two. 

A large farmer, Col. M’Quiller, in Cashaw county, 
South Carolina, was in the habit of driving nails 
into a hogshead so as to leave the point of the nail 
just protruding in the inside of the cask; into this 
he used to put his slaves for punishment, and roll 
them down a very long and steep hill. I have heard 
from several slaves (though I had no means of as¬ 
certaining the truth of the statement) that in this 
way he killed six or seven of his slaves. This plan was 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


21 


first adopted by a Mr. Perry, who lived on the Ca- 
tauba river, and has since been adopted by several 
planters. Another was that of a young lad, who 
had been hired by Mr. Bell, a member of a Method¬ 
ist church, to hoe three-quarters of an acre of cotton 
per day. Having been brought up as a domestic 
slave, he was not able to accomplish the task assign¬ 
ed to him. On the Saturday night, he left three or 
four rows to do on the Sunday ; on the same night 
it rained very hard, by which the master could tell 
that he had done some of the rows on Sunday. On 
Monday his master took and tied him up to a tree 
in the field, and kept him there the whole of that 
day, and flogged him at intervals. At night, when 
he was taken down he was so weak that he could 
not get home, having a mile to go. Two white 
men, who were employed by Mr. Bell, put him on 
a horse, took him home, and threw him down on 
the kitchen floor, while they proceeded to their sup¬ 
per. In a little time they heard some deep groans 
proceeding from the kitchen ; they went to see him 
die; he had groaned his last. Thus, Mr. Bell flog¬ 
ged this poor boy even to death ; for what ? For 
breaking the Sabbath, when he (his master) had set 
him a task on Saturday which it was not possible for 
him to do, and which, if he did not do, no mercy 
would be extended towards him. So much for the 
regard of this Methodist for the observance of the 
Sabbath. The general custom in this respect is, 


22 


MOSES ROPER’S 


that if a man kills his own slave, no notice is taken 
of it by the civil functionaries ; but if a man kills 
a slave belonging to another master, he is compelled 
to pay the worth of the slave. In this case, a jury 
met, returned a verdict of “ wilful murder” against 
this man, and ordered him to pay the value. Mr. 
Bell was unable to do this, but a Mr. Cunningham 
paid the debt, and took this Mr. Bell, with this re¬ 
commendation for cruelty, to be his overseer. 

It will be observed, that most of the cases here 
cited are those in respect to males. Many instances, 
however, in respect to females might be mentioned, 
but are too disgusting to appear in this narrative. 
The cases here brought forward are not rare, but 
the continued feature of slavery. But I must now 
follow up the narrative as regards myself in particu¬ 
lar. I stayed with this master for several months, 
during which time we went on very well in general. 
In August, 1831, (this was my first acquaintance 
with any date,) I happened to hear a man mention 
this date, and as it excited my curiosity, I asked 
what it meant ? They told me it was the number of 
the year from the birth of Christ. On this date, 
August, 1831, some cows broke into a crib where 
the corn is kept, and ate a great deal. For this his 
slaves were tied up and received several floggings ; 
but myself and another man hearing the groans of 
those who were being flogged, stayed back in the 
field, and would not come up. Upon this I thought 



ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


23 


to escape punishment. On the Monday morning, 
however, I heard my master flogging the other man 
who was in the field; he could not see me, it being 
a field of Indian corn, which grows to a great height. 
Being afraid that he would catch me, and dreading a 
flogging more than many others, I determined to run 
for it, and after travelling forty miles I arrived at 
the estate of Mr. Crawford, in North Carolina, 
Mecklinburgh county. Having formerly heard 
people talk about the Free States, I determined upon 
going thither, and if possible, in my way, to find 
out my poor mother who was in slavery several 
hundred miles from Chester; but the hope of doing 
the latter was very faint, and even if I did, it was 
not likely that she would know me, having been 
separated from her when between five and six years 
old. 

The first night I slept in a barn upon Mr. Craw¬ 
ford’s estate, and, having overslept myself, was 
awoke by Mr. Crawford’s overseer, upon which I 
was dreadfully frightened. He asked me what I was 
doing there ? I made no reply to him then, and he, 
making sure that he had secured a run-a-way slave, 
did not press me for an answer. On my way to 
his house, however, I made up the following story, 
which I told him in the presence of his wife :—I 
said, that I had been bound to a very cruel master 
when I was a little boy, and that having been treated 
very badly, I wanted to get home to see my mother. 


24 


MOSES ROPER’S 


This statement may appear to some to be a direct 
lie, but as I understood the word bound , I consider¬ 
ed it to apply to my case, having been sold to him, 
and thereby bound to serve him ; though still, I did 
rather hope that he would understand it, that I was 
bound, when a boy, till twenty-one years of age. 
Though I was white at that time, he would not be¬ 
lieve my story, on account of my hair being curly 
and woolly, which led him to conclude I was pos¬ 
sessed of enslaved blood. The overseer’s wife, 
however, who seemed much interested in me, said 
she did not think I was of African origin, and that 
she had seen white men still darker than me; her 
persuasion prevailed; and after the overseer had 
given me as much butter-milk as I could drink, and 
something to eat, which was very acceptable, having 
had nothing for two days, I set oft' for Charlotte in 
North Carolina, the largest town in the county. I 
went on very quickly the whole of that day, fearful 
of being pursued. The trees were very thick on 
each side of the road, and only a few houses at the 
distance of two or three miles apart: as I proceeded 
I turned round in all directions to see if I was pur¬ 
sued, and if I caught a glimpse of any one coming 
along the road, I immediately rushed into the thick¬ 
est part of the wood to elude the grasp, of what I 
was afraid might be my master. I went on this 
way the whole day ; at night I came up with two 
waggons, they had been to, market, the regular road 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


25 


waggons do not generally put up at inns, but encamp 
in the roads and fields. When I came to them, I 
told them the same story 1 had told Mr. Crawford’s 
overseer, with the assurance that the statement would 
meet the same success. After they had heard me, 
they gave me something to eat and also a lodging in 
the camp with them. 

I then went on with them about five miles, and 
they agreed to take me with them as far as they 
went, if I would assist them. This I promised to 
do. In the morning, however, I was much fright¬ 
ened by one of the men putting several questions to 
me—we were then about three miles from Charlotte. 
When within a mile of that town, we stopped at a 
brook to water the horses; while stopping here, I 
saw the men whispering, and fancying I overheard 
them say they would put me in Charlotte gaol, 
when they got there, I made my escape into the 
woods, pretending to be looking after something till 
I got out of their sight. I then ran on as fast as I 
could, but did not go through the town of Charlotte 
as had been my intention; being a large town, I was 
fearful it might prove fatal to my escape. Here I 
was at a loss how to get on, as houses were not very 
distant from each other for near 200 miles. 

While thinking what I should do, I observed some 
waggons before, which I determined to keep behind, 
and never go nearer to them than a quarter of a 
mile—in this way I travelled till I got to Salisbury, 
c 


2(5 


MOSES ROPER’S 


If I happened to meet any person on the road, I was 
afraid they would take me up, I asked them how far 
the waggons had got on before me, to make them 
suppose I belonged to the waggons. At night, I 
slept on the ground in the woods, some little distance 
from the waggons, but not near enough to be seen 
by the men belonging to them. All this time I had 
but little food, principally fruit, which I found on 
the road. On Thursday night, I got into Salisbury, 
having left Chester on the Monday morning preced¬ 
ing. After this, being afraid my master was in 
pursuit of me, I left the usual line of road and took 
another direction, through Huntsville and Salem, 
principally through fields and woods ; on my way 
to Caswell Court House, a distance of nearly 200 
miles from Salisbury, I was stopped by a white man, 
to whom I told my old story, and again succeeded 
in my escape. I also came up with a small cart, 
driven by a poor man who had been moving into 
some of the western territories, and was going back 
to Virginia to move some more of his luggage. On 
this, I told him I was going the same way to Hilton, 
thirteen miles from Caswell Court House; he took 
me up in his cart and we went to the Red House, 
two miles from Hilton, the place where Mr. Mit¬ 
chell took me from when six years old, to go to the 
Southern States. This was a very providential 
circumstance, for it happened that at the time I had 
to pass through Caswell Court House, a fair or 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


27 


election was going on, which caused the place to be 
much crowded with people, and rendered it more 
dangerous for me to pass through. 

At the Red House I left the cart and wandered 
about a long time, not knowing which way to go to 
find my mother. After some lime, I took the road 
leading over Ikeo creek. I shortly came up with a 
little girl about six years old, and asked her where 
she was going, she said to her mother’s, pointing to 
a house on a hill about half a mile off. She had 
been to the overseer’s house, and was returning to 
her mother. I then felt some emotions arising in 
my breast, which I cannot describe, but will be fully 
explained in the sequel. I told her that I was very 
thirsty, and would go with her to get something to 
drink. On our way, I asked her several questions, 
such as her name, that of her mother; she said hers 
was Maria, and her mother’s Nancy. I inquired if 
her mother had any more children ? she said five 
besides herself, and that they had been told that one 
had been sold when a little boy. I then asked the 
name of this child ; she said it was Moses. These 
answers, as we approached the house, led me nearer 
and nearer to the finding out the object of my pur¬ 
suit, and of recognising in the little girl the person 
of my own sister. At last I got to my mother’s 
house ! ! my mother was at home, I asked her if 
she knew me? she said no. Her master was having 
a house built just by, and the men were digging a 


28 


MOSES ROPER’S 


well, she supposed that I was one of the diggers. I 
told her 1 knew her very well, and thought that if 
she looked at me a little she would know me, but 
this had no effect. I then asked her if she had any 
sons ? she said yes ; but none so large as me. I 
then wailed a few minutes, and narrated some cir¬ 
cumstances to her, attending my being sold into 
slavery, and how she grieved at my loss. Here the 
mother’s feelings on that dire occasion, and which a 
mother only can know, rushed to her mind : she 
saw her own son before her, for whom she had so 
often wept; and in an instant we were clasped in 
each others arms, amidst the ardent interchange of 
caresses and tears of joy. Ten years had elapsed 
since I had seen my dear mother. My own feel¬ 
ings, and the circumstances attending my coming 
home, have often been brought to mind since, on a 
perusal of the 42nd, 43rd, 44th, and 45th chapters 
of Genesis. What could picture my feelings so well, 
as I once more beheld the mother who had brought 
me into the world and had nourished me, not with 
the anticipation of my being torn from her maternal 
care when only six years old, to become the prey of 
a mercenary and blood-stained slaveholder; I say, 
what picture so vivid in description of this part of 
my tale, as the 7th and 8th verses of the 42nd chap¬ 
ter of Genesis; “ And Joseph saw his brethren and 
he knew them, but made himself strange unto them. 
And Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew not 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


29 


him.” After the first emotion of the mother, on re¬ 
cognising her first born, had somewhat subsided, 
could the reader not fancy the little one, my sister, 
as she told her simple tale of meeting with me to her 
mother, how she would say, while the parent listen¬ 
ed with intense interest, “ The man asked me strait- 
ly of our state and of our kindred, saying, is your 
father yet alive, and have ye another brother?” Or, 
when at last, I could no longer refrain from making 
myself known, Isay I was ready to burst into a 
frenzy of joy. How applicable the 1st, 2nd, and 
3rd verses of the 45th chapter: “Then Joseph could 
not refrain himself before all them that stood by him, 
and he wept aloud, and said unto his brethren, I am 
Joseph, doth my father still live?” Then when the 
mother knew her son, when the brothers and sisters 
owned their brother; “he kissed all his brethren 
and wept over them, and after that his brethren 
talked with him,” 15th verse. At night, my mo¬ 
ther’s husband, a black-smith, belonging to Mr. Jef¬ 
ferson, at the Red House, came home, he was sur¬ 
prised to see me with the family, not knowing who 
I was. He had been married to my mother when I 
was a babe, and had always been very fond of me. 
After the same tale had been told him, and the same 
emotions filled his soul, he again kissed the object 
of his early affection. The next morning I wanted 
to go on my journey, in order to make sure of my 
escape to the free states. But, as might be expected, 


30 


MOSES ROPER’S 


my mother, father, brothers, and sisters, could ill 
part with their long lost one, and persuaded me to 
go into the woods in the day time, and at night come 
home and sleep there. This I did for about a week: 
on the next Sunday night, I had laid me down to 
sleep between my two brothers, on a pallet which 
my mother had prepared for me; about twelve 
( o’clock, I was suddenly awoke, and found my bed 
surrounded by twelve slaveholders with pistols in hand, 
who took me away (not allowing me to bid farewell 
to those I loved so dearly) to the Red House, where 
they confined me in a room the rest of the night, and 
and in the morning lodged me in the gaol of Caswell 
Court House. 

What was the scene at home, what sorrow pos¬ 
sessed their hearts, I am unable to describe, as I 
never after saw any of them more. I heard, how¬ 
ever, that my mother, who was in the family-way 
when I went home, was soon after confined, and 
was very long before she recovered the effects of 
this disaster. I was told afterwards, that some of 
those men who took me, were professing Chris¬ 
tians, but to me they did not seem to live up to 
what they professed; they did not seem, by their 
practices, at least, to recognise that God as their 
God, who hath said, “ Thou shalt not deliver unto 
his master, the servant which is escaped from his 
master unto thee, he shall dwell with thee, even 
among you, in that place which he shall choose, in 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


31 


one of thy gates, where it liketh him best; thou 
shalt not oppress him.”—Deut. xxiii. 15, 16. 

I was confined here in a dungeon under ground, 
the grating of which looked to the door of the 
gaoler’s house. His wife had a great antipathy to 
me. She was Mr. Roper’s wife’s cousin. My 
grandmother used to come to me nearly every day, 
and bring me something to eat, besides the regular 
gaol allowance, by which my sufferings were some¬ 
what decreased. Whenever the gaoler went out, 
which he often did, his wife used to come to my 
dungeon and shut the wooden door over the grating, 
by which I was nearly suffocated, the place being 
very damp and noisome. My master did not hear 
of my being in gaol for thirty-one* days after I had 
been placed there. He immediately sent his son, and 
son-in-law, Mr. Anderson, after me. They came in a 
horse and chaise, took me from the gaol to a black¬ 
smith’s shop, and got an iron collar fitted round my 
neck, with a heavy chain attached, then tied up my 
hands, and fastened the other end of the chain on 
another horse, and put me on its back. Just before 
we started, my grandmother came to bid me fare¬ 
well ; I gave her my hand as well as I could, and 
she having given me two or three presents, we part¬ 
ed. I had felt enough, far too much, for the weak 
state 1 was in ; but how shall I describe my feelings 
upon parting with the last relative that I ever saw. 
The reader must judge by what would be his own 


32 


MOSES ROPER’S 


feelings under similar circumstances. We then 
went on for fifty miles ; I was very weak, and could 
hardly sit on the horse. Having been in prison so 
long, I had lost the Southern tan ; and, as the peo¬ 
ple could not see my hair, having my hat on, they 
thought I was a white man—a criminal—and asked 
what crime I had committed. We arrived late at 
night at the house of Mr. Britton. I shall never 
forget the journey that night. The thunder was 
one continued roar, and the lightning blazing all 
around. I expected every minute that my iron col¬ 
lar would attract it, and I should be knocked off the 
horse and dragged along the ground. This gentle¬ 
man, a year or two before, had liberated his slaves, 
and sent them into Ohio, having joined the Society 
of Friends, which society does not allow the hold¬ 
ing of slaves. I was, therefore, treated very well 
there, and they gave me a hearty supper, which did 
me much good in my weak state. 

They secured me in the night by locking me to 
the post of the bed on which they slept. The next 
morning we went on to Salisbury. At that place 
we stopped to water the horses ; they chained me to 
a tree in the yard, by the side of their chaise. On 
my horse they had put the saddle bags which con¬ 
tained the provisions. As I was in the yard, a black 
man came and asked me what I had been doing; I 
told him I had run away from my master, after 
which he told me several tales about the slaves, and 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


33 


among them, he mentioned the case of a Quaker, 
who was then in prison, waiting to be hung, for 
for giving a free pass to a slave. I had been con¬ 
sidering all the way how I could escape from my 
horse, and once had an idea of cutting his head off, 
but thought it too cruel, and at last thought of try¬ 
ing to get a rasp and cut the chain by which I was 
fastened to the horse. As they often let me get on 
nearly a quarter of a mile before them, I thought I 
should have a good opportunity of doing this with¬ 
out being seen. The black man procured me a rasp, 
and I put it into the saddle bags which contained the 
provisions. We then went on our journey, and one 
of the sons asked me if I wanted any thing to eat; 
I answered no, though very hungry at the time, as I 
was afraid of their going to the bags and discovering 
the rasp. However, they had not had their own 
meal at the inn, as I supposed, and went to the bags 
to supply themselves, where they discovered the 
rasp. Upon this, they fastened my horse beside 
the horse in their chaise, and kept a stricter watch 
over me. Nothing remarkable occurred till we got 
within eight miles of Mr. Gooch’s, where we stop- 
ed a short time; and taking advantage of their ab¬ 
sence, I broke a switch from some boughs above my 
head, lashed my horse, and set off at full speed. I 
had got about a quarter of a mile before they could 
get their horse loose from the chaise, one then rode 
the horse, and the other ran as fast as he could after 


34 


MOSES ROPER S 


me. When I caught sight of them, I turned off the 
main road into the woods, hoping to escape their 
sight; their horse, however, being much swifter 
than mine, they soon got within a short distance of 
me. I then came to a rail fence, which I found it 
very difficult to get over, but breaking several rails 
away, I effected my object. They then called upon 
me so stop, more than three times, and I not doing 
so, they fired after me, but the pistol only snapped. 
This is according to law; after three calls they may 
shoot a runaway slave. Soon after, the one on the 
horse came up with me, and catching hold of the 
bridle of my horse, pushed the pistol to my side, 
the other soon came up, and breaking off several 
stout branches from the trees, they gave me about 
100 blows. They did this very near to a planter’s 
house, the gentleman was not at home, but his wife 
came out, and begged them not to kill me so near 
the house ; they took no notice of this, but kept on 
beating me. They then fastened me to the axle-tree 
of their chaise, one of them got into the chaise, the 
other took my horse, and they run me all the eight 
miles as fast as they could, the one on my horse 
going behind to guard me. In this way we came to 
my old master, Mr. Gooch. The first person I saw 
was himself, he unchained me from the chaise, and 
and, at first, seemed to treat me very gently, asking 
me where I had been, &c. The first thing the sons 
did, was to show the rasp which I had got to cut 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


35 


my chain. My master gave me a hearty dinner, 
the best he ever did give me, but it was to keep me 
from dying before he had given me all the flogging 
he intended. After dinner he took me to a log- 
house, stripped me quite naked, fastened a rail up 
very high, tied my hands to the rail, fastened my 
feet together, put a rail between my feet and stood 
on one end of it to hold it down, the two sons then 
gave me fifty lashes each, the eldest another fifty, 
and Mr. Gooch himself, fifty more. While doing 
this, his wife came out and begged him not to kill 
me, the first act of sympathy I ever noticed in her. 
When I called for water, they brought a pail full, 
and threw it over my back, ploughed up by the 
lashes. After this, they took me to the black¬ 
smith’s shop, got two large bars of iron, which they 
bent round my feet, each bar weighing twenty pounds, 
and put a heavy log-chain on my neck. This was 
on Saturday. On the Monday he chained me to 
the same female slave as before. As he had to go 
out that day, he did not give me the punishment 
which he intended to give me every day, but at night 
when he came home, he made us walk round his 
estate, and by all the houses of his slaves, for them 
to taunt us ; when we came home he told us we 
must be up very early in the mining, and go to the 
fields before the other slaves. We were up at day 
break, but we could not get on fast, on account of 
the heavy irons on my feet. We walked about a 


36 


MOSES ROPER’S 


mile in two hours, but knowing the punishment he 
was going to inflict on us, we made up our minds 
to escape into the woods, and secrete ourselves. 
This we did, and he not being able to find us, sent 
all his slaves, about forty, and his sons, to find us, 
which they could not do, and about twelve o’clock, 
when we thought they would give up looking for 
us at that time, we went on and came to the banks 
of the Catauba. Here I got a stone, and prized the 
ring off the chain on her neck, and got it off, and as 
the chain round my neck was only passed through 
a ring, as soon as I had got hers off I slipped the 
chain through my ring and got it off my own neck. 
We then went on by the banks of the river for some 
distance, and found a little canoe about two feet 
wide. I managed to get in, although the irons on 
my feet made it very dangerous, for if I had upset 
the canoe I could not swim. The female got in 
after me, and gave me the paddles, by which we 
got some distance down the river. The current 
being very strong, it drove us against a small island; 
we paddled round the island to the other side, and 
then made towards the opposite bank. Here again 
we were stopped by the current, and made up to a 
large rock in the river, between the island and the 
opposite shore. As the weather was very rough, we 
landed on the rock and secured the canoe, as it was 
not possible to get back to the island. It was a very 
dark night, and rained tremendously, and as the 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


37 


water was rising rapidly towards the top of the rock, 
we gave all up for lost, and sometimes hoped, and 
sometimes feared to hope, that we should never see 
the morning. But Providence was moving in our 
favor; the rain ceased, the water reached the edge 
of the rock, then receded, and we were out of dan¬ 
ger from this cause. We remained all night upon 
the rock, and in the morning reached the opposite 
shore, and then made our way through the woods 
till we came to a field of Indian corn, where we 
plucked some of the greea ears and eat them, having 
had nothing for two days and nights. We came to 
to the estate of-, where we met with a color¬ 

ed man who knew me, and, having run away him¬ 
self from a bad master, he gave us some food, and 
told us we might sleep in the barn that night. Being 
very fatigued we over-slept ourselves; the proprietor 
came to the barn, but as I was in one corner under 
some Indian corn tops, and she in another, he did 
not perceive us, and we did not leave the barn before 
night, (Wednesday.) We then went out, got some¬ 
thing to eat, and stayed about the estate till Sunday. 
On that day I met with some men, one of whom had 
had irons on his feet the same as me ; he told me 
that his master was going out to see his friends, and 
that he would try and get my feet loose; for this 
purpose I parted with this female, fearing that if she 
were caught with me, she would be forced to tell who 
took my irops off. The man tried some time without 



38 


MOSES ROPER S 


effect; he then gave me a file, and I tried myself, but 
was disappointed, on account of their thickness. 

On the Monday I went on towards Lancaster, and 
got within three miles of it that night, and went to¬ 
wards the plantation of Mr. Crockett, as I knew 
some of his slaves, and hoped to get some food given 
me. When I got there, however, the dogs smelt 
me out and barked ; upon which Mr. Crockett came 
out, followed me with his rifle and came up with 
me. He put me on a horse’s back, which put me 
to extreme pain, from the great weight hanging from 
my feet. We reached Lancaster gaol that night, and 
he lodged me there. I was placed in the next dun¬ 
geon to a man who was going to be hung. I shall 
never forget his cries and groans, as he prayed all 
night for the mercy of God. Mr. Gooch did not 
hear of me for several weeks : when he did, he sent 
his son-in-law, Mr. Anderson, after me. Mr,. Gooch, 
himself, came within a mile of Lancaster, and wait¬ 
ed until Mr. Anderson brought me. At this time I 
had but one of the irons on my feet, having got so 
thin round my ankles that I had slipped one off 
while in gaol. His son-in-law tied my hands, and 
made me walk along till we came to Mr. Gooch. 
As soon as we arrived at M’Daniel’s Ford, two miles 
above the Ferry, on the Catauba River, they made 
me wade across, themselves going on horseback. 
The water was very deep, and having irons on one 
foot, and round my neck, I could not keep a footing. 
They dragged me along by my chain, floating on the 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


39 


top of the water. It was as much as they could do 
to hold me by the chain, the current being very 
strong. They then took me home, floggedjne, put 
extra irons on my neck and feet, and put me under 
the driver, with more work than ever I had before. 
He did not flog me so severely as before, but con¬ 
tinued it every day. Among the instruments of tor¬ 
ture employed, I here describe one:— 



This is a machine used for packing and pressing 
cotton. By it he hung me up by the hands at letter 
a, a horse moving round the screw e, and carrying 





















40 


MOSES ROPER’S 


it up and down, and pressing the block c into the 
box d, into which the cotton is put. At this 
ime he hung me up for a quarter of an hour. I 
was carried up ten feet from the ground, when Mr. 
Gooch asked me if I was tired. He then let me 
rest for five minutes, then carried me round again, 
after which he let me down and put me into the 
box d y and shut me down in it for about ten minutes. 
After this torture, I stayed with him several months, 
and did my work very well. It was about the be¬ 
ginning of 1832, when he took off my irons, and 
being in dread of him, he having threatened me with 
more punishment, I attempted again to escape from 
him. At this time, I got into North Carolina; but 
a reward having been offered for me, a Mr. Robin¬ 
son qaught me, and chained me to a chair, upon 
which lie sat up with me all night, and next day 
proceeded home with me. This was Saturday. 
Mr. Gooch had gone to church, several miles from 
his house. When he came back, the first thing he 
did, was to pour some tar on my head, then rubbed 
it all over my face, took a torch, with pitch on, and 
set it on fire ; he put it out before it did me very 
great injury, but the pain which I endured was most 
excruciating, nearly all my hair having been burnt 
off. On Monday, he put irons on me again, weigh¬ 
ing nearly fifty pounds. He threatened me again on 
the Sunday with another flogging : and on the Mon¬ 
day morning, before day break, I got away again, 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


4 I 


with my irons on, and was about three hours going 
a distance of two miles. I had gone a good distance, 
when I met with a colored man, who got some 
wedges and took my irons off. However, I was 
caught again, and put into prison in Charlotte, where 
Mr. Gooch came, and took me back to Chester. He 
asked me how I got my irons off? They having 
been got off by a slave, I would not answer his 
question, for fear of getting the man punished. 
Upon this he put the fingers of my left hand into a 
vice, and squeezed all my nails oft’. He then had 
my feet put on an anvil, and ordered a man to beat 
my to'es, till he smashed some of my nails off. The 
marks of this treatment still remain upon me, my 
nails never having grown perfect since. He inflicted 
this punishment in order to get out of me how I got 
my irons off, but never succeeded. After this, he 
hardly knew what to do with me ; the whole stock 
of his cruelties seemed to be exhausted. He chain¬ 
ed me down in the log house. Soon after this, he 
sent a female slave to see if 1 was safe. Mr. Gooch 
had not secured me as he thought; but had only run 
my chain through the ring without locking it. This 
I observed; and while the slave was coming, I was 
employed in loosening the chain with the hand that 
was not wounded. As soon as I observed her com¬ 
ing, I drew the chain up tight, and she observing 
that I seemed fast, went away and told her master, 
who was in the field ordering the slaves. When 


42 


MOSES ROPER’S 


she was gone, I drew the chain through the ring, 
escaped under the flooring of the log house, and 
went on under his house, till I came out at the other 
side, and ran on ; but, being sore and weak, I had 
not got a mile before I was caught, and again carried 
back, lie tied me up to a tree in the woods at night, 
and made his slaves flog me. I cannot say how 
many lashes I received; but it was the worst flog¬ 
ging I ever had, and the last which Mr. Gooch ever 
gave me. 

There are several circumstances which occurred 
on this estate while I was there, relative to other 
slaves, which it may be interesting to mention. 
Hardly a day ever passed without some one being 
flogged. To one of his female slaves he had given 
a dose of castor oil and salts, together, as much as 
she could take ; he then got a box, about six feet by 
two and a half, and one and a half feet deep ; J^e 
put this slave under the box, and made the men 
fetch as many stones as they could get, and put 
them on the top of it: under this, she was made to 
stay all night. I believe that if he had given this 
slave one, he had given her three thousand lashes. 
Mr. Gooch was a member of a Baptist church. 
His slaves thinking him a very bad sample of what 
a professing Christian ought to be, would not join 
the connexion he belonged to, thinking they must be 
a very bad set of people : there were many of them 
members of the Methodist church. On Sunday, 
the slaves can only go to church at the will of their 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


43 


master, when he gives them a pass for the time they 
are to be out. If they are found by the patrol after 
the time to which their pass extends, they are se¬ 
verely flogged. 

On Sunday nights, a slave, named Allen, used to 
come to Mr. Gooch’s estate for the purpose of ex¬ 
horting and prayjng with his brother slaves, by 
whose instrumentality many of them had been con¬ 
verted. One evening, Mr. Gooch caught them all 
in a room, turned Allen out, and threatened his 
slaves with one hundred lashes each if they ever 
brought him there again. At one time, Mr. Gooch 
was ill and confined to his room ; if any of the slaves 
had done anything, which he thought deserving a 
flogging, he would have them brought into his bed¬ 
room and flogged before his eyes. 

With respect to food, he used to allow us one 
peck of Indian meal each, per week, which, after 
being sifted and the bran taken from it, would not be 
much more than half a peck. Meat we did not get 
for sometimes several weeks together; however, he 
was proverbial for giving his slaves more food than 
any other slaveholder. I stayed with Mr. Gooch 
a year and a half. During that time, the scenes of 
cruelty I witnessed and experienced, are not at all 
fitted for these pages. There is much to excite dis¬ 
gust in what has been narrated, but hundreds of 
other cases might be mentioned. After this, Mr. 
Gooch, seeing that I was determined to get away 
from him, chained me, and sent me with another 


44 


MOSES ROPER’S 


female slave, whom he had treated very cruelly, to 
Mr. Britton, son of the before-mentioned, a slave 
dealer. We were to have gone to Georgia to be 
sold ; but a bargain was struck before we arrived 
there. Mr. Britton had put chains on me to please 
Mr. Gooch; but having gone some little distance, 
we came up with a white man, who begged Mr. 
Britton to unchain me ; he then took off my hand¬ 
cuffs. We then went on to Union Court House, 
where we met a drove of slaves ; the driver came to 
me, and ultimately bought me, and sent me to his 
drove; the girl was sold to a planter in the neigh¬ 
borhood, as bad as Mr. Gooch. In court week, the 
negro traders and slaves encamp a little way out of 
the town. The traders here will often sleep with 
the best looking female slaves among them, and they 
will often have many children in the year, which 
are said to be slaveholder’s children, by which 
means, through his villany, he will make an immense 
profit of this intercourse, by selling the babe with 
its mother. I They often keep an immense stock of 
slaves on hand. Many of them, will be with the 
trader a year or more, before they are sold. Mr. 
Marcus Rowland, the drover who bought me, then 
returned with his slaves to his brother’s house (Mr. 
John Rowland,) where he kept his drove, on his 
way to Virginia. He kept me as a kind of servant. 
I had to grease the faces of the blacks every morn¬ 
ing with sweet oil, to make them shine before they 
are put up to sell. After he had been round several 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


45 


weeks and sold many slaves, he left me and some 
more at his brother’s house, while he went on to 
Washington, about 600 miles, to buy some more 
slaves, the drove having got very small. We were 
treated very well while there, having plenty to eat, 
and little work to do, in order to make us fat. I 
was brought up more as a domestic slave, as they 
generally prefer slaves of my color for that purpose. 
When Mr. Rowland came back, having been absent 
about five months, he found all the slaves well, ex¬ 
cept one female, who had been grieving very much 
at being parted from her parents, and at last died of 
grief. He dressed us very nicely, and went on 
again. I travelled with him for a year, and had to 
look over the slaves, and see that they were dressed 
well, had plenty of food, and to oil their faces. Dur¬ 
ing this time, we stopped once at White House 
church, a Baptist association ; a protracted camp 
meeting was holding there, on the plan of the revi¬ 
val meetings in this country. We got there at the 
time of the meeting, and sold two female slaves on 
the Sunday morning, at the time the meeting broke 
up, to a gentleman who had been attending the 
meeting the whole of the week. While I was with 
Mr. Rowland, we were at many such meetings, and 
the members of the churches are by this means so 
well influenced towards their fellow creatures, at 
these meetings for the worship of God, that it be¬ 
comes a fruitful season for the drover, who carries 
on immense traffic with the attendants at these places. 



46 


MOSES ROPER’S 


This is common to Baptists and Methodists. At 
the end of the year, he exchanged me to a farmer, 
Mr. David Goodley, for a female slave, in Green¬ 
ville, about fourteen miles from Greenville Court 
House. The gentleman was going to Missouri to 
settle, and on his way had to pass through Ohio, a 
free state. But, having learnt, after he bought me, 
that I had before tried to get away to the free states, 
he was afraid to take me with him, and I was 
again exchanged to a Mr. Marvel Louis. He was 
in the habit of travelling a great deal, and took me 
as a domestic slave to wait on him. Mr. Louis 
boarded at the house of Mr. Clevelin, a very rich 
planter at Greenville, South Carolina. Mr. L. was 
paying his addresses to the daughter of this gentle¬ 
man, but was surprised and routed in his approaches, 
by a Colonel Dorkin, of Union Court House, who 
ultimately carried her off in triumph. After this, 
Mr. Louis took to drinking, to drown his recollec¬ 
tion of disappointed love. One day he went to 
Pendleton Races, and I waited on the road for him ; 
returning intoxicated, he was thrown from his horse 
into a brook, and was picked up by a gentleman, 
and taken to an inn, and I went there to take care of 
him. Next day he went on to Punkintown with 
Mr. Warren R. Davis, a member of Congress ; I went 
with him. This was at the time of the agitation of 
the Union and Nullifying party, which was expect¬ 
ed to end in a general war. The Nullifying party 
had a grand dinner on the occasion, after which, 


ESCArE FROM SLAVERY. 


47 


they gave their slaves all the refuse, for the purpose 
of bribing them to fight on the side of their party. 
The scene on this occasion was most humorous, all 
the slaves scrambling after bare bones and crumbs, as 
if they had had nothing for months. When Mr. 
Louis had got over this fit of drunkenness, we re¬ 
turned to Greenville, where I had little to do, except 
in the warehouse. There was preaching in the 
court house on the Sunday ; but scarcely had the 
sweet savor of the worship of God passed away, 
when, on Monday, a public auction was held for 
the sale of slaves, cattle, sugar, iron, &c., by Z. 
Davis, the high constable, and others. 

On these days, I was generally very busy in 
handing out the different articles for inspection, and 
was employed in this way for several months ; after 
which, Mr. Louis left this place for Pendleton; but 
his health getting worse, and fast approaching con¬ 
sumption, he determined to travel. J went with him 
over Georgia to the Indian springs, and from there 
to Columbus ; here he left me with Lawyer Kemp, 
a member of the State Assembly, to take care of his 
horses and carriage till he came back from Cuba, 
where he went for the benefit of his health. I tra¬ 
velled round with Mr. Kemp, waiting until my mas¬ 
ter came back. I soon after heard that Mr. Louis 
had died at Appalachicola, and had been buried at 
Tennessee Bluff. I was very much attached to the 
neighborhood of Pendleton and Greenville, and fear¬ 
ed, from Mr. Louis’s death, I should notjget back there. 


48 


MOSES ROPER’S 


As soon as this information arrived, Mr. Kemp 
put me, the carriage and horses, a gold watch, and 
cigars, up to auction, on which I was much fright¬ 
ened, knowing there would be some very cruel mas¬ 
ters at the sale, and fearing I should again be disap¬ 
pointed in my attempt to escape from bondage. Mr. 
Beveridge, a Scotchman, from Appalachicola, bought 
me, the horses, and cigars. He was not a cruel 
master ; he had been in America eighteen years, and 
I believe I was the first slave he ever bought. Mr. 
Kemp had no right to sell me, which he did before 
he had written to Mr. Louis’s brother. 

Shortly after this, Mr. Kemp having some alter¬ 
cation with General Woodfork, it ended in a duel, 
in which Mr. W. was killed. A few weeks after, as 
Mr. Kemp was passing down a street, he was sud¬ 
denly shot dead by Mr. Milton, a rival lawyer. 
When I heard this, I considered it a visitation of 
God on Mr. Kemp for having sold me unjustly, as 
I did not belong to him. This was soon discovered 
by me, Mr. Louis’s brother having called at Mack¬ 
intosh Hotel, Columbus, to claim me, but which he 
could not effect. After this, I travelled with Mr. Beve¬ 
ridge through Georgia, to the warm springs, and then 
came back to Columbus, going on to Marianna, his 
summer house in Florida. Here I met with better 
treatment than I had ever experienced before ; we tra¬ 
velled on the whole summer; at the fall, Mr. Beveridge 
went to Appalachicola on business. Mr. Beveridge was 
contractor for the mail from Columbus to Appala- 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


49 


chicola, and owner of three steamboats, the Ver¬ 
sailles, Andrew Jackson, and Van Buren. He made 
me steward on board the Versailles the whole win¬ 
ter. The river then got so low that the boats could 
not run. At this time, Mr. Beveridge went to Mount 
Vernon. On our way we had to pass through the 
Indian nation. We arrived at Columbus, where I 
was taken dangerously ill of a fever. After I got 
well, Mr. Beveridge returned to Marianna, through 
the Indian nation. Having gone about twelve miles 
he was taken very ill. I took him out of the car¬ 
riage to a brook, and washed his hands and feet 
until he got better, when I got him into the carriage 
again, and drove off till we came to General Irving’s, 
where he stopped several days, on account of his 
health. While there, I observed on the floor of the 
kitchen several children, one about three months old, 
without any body to take care of her; I asked where 
her mother was, and was told that Mrs. Irving had 
given her a very hard task to do at washing, in a 
brook about a quarter of a mile distant. We heard 
after, that not being able to get it done she had got 
some cords, tied them round her neck, climbed up a 
tree, swung off, and hung herself. Being missed, 
persons were sent after her, who observed several 
buzzards flying about a particular spot, to which 
they directed their steps, and found the poor woman 
nearly eaten up. 

After this, we travelled several months without 
any thing remarkable taking place. 

E 


50 


MOSES ROPER’S 


In the year 1834, Mr. Beveridge, who was now 
residing in Appalachicola, a town in West Florida, 
became a bankrupt, when all his properly was sold, 
and I fell into the hands of a very cruel master, Mr. 
Register, a planter in the same state; of whom, 
knowing his savage character, I always had a dread. 
Previously to his purchasing me, he had frequently 
taunted me, by saying, “ You have been a gentle¬ 
man long enough, and, whatever may be the conse¬ 
quences, I intend to buy you.” To which I re¬ 
marked, that I would, on no account, live with him 
if I could help it. Nevertheless, intent upon his 
purpose, in the month of July, 1834, he bought me, 
after which, I was so exasperated that I cared not 
whether I lived or died ; in fact, whilst I was on my 
passage from Appalachicola, I procured a quart bot¬ 
tle of whiskey, for the purpose of so intoxicating 
myself, that I might be able, either to plunge myself 
into the river, or so to enrage my master, that he 
should dispatch me forthwith. I was however, by a 
kind Providence, prevented from committing this 
horrid deed by an old slave on board, who knowing 
my intention, secretly took the bottle from me; after 
which, my hands were tied, and I was led into the 
town of Ochesa, to a warehouse, where my master 
was asked by the proprietor of the place, the reason 
for his confining my hands ; in answer to which, Mr. 
Register said, that he had purchased me. The pro¬ 
prietor, however, persuaded him to untie me; after 
which, my master being excessively drunk, asked 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


51 


for a cow hide, intending to flog me, from which the 
proprietor dissuaded him, saying that he had known 
me for some time, and he was sure that I did not re¬ 
quire to be flogged. From this place, we proceeded 
about mid-day on our way, he placing me on the 
bare back of a half starved old horse, which he had 
purchased, and upon which sharp surface he kindly 
intended, I should ride about eighty miles, the dis¬ 
tance we were then from his home. In this unplea¬ 
sant situation, I could not help reflecting upon the 
prospects before me, not forgetting that I had heard 
that my new master had been in the habit of steal¬ 
ing cattle and other property, and among other things, 
a slave woman, and that I had said, as it afterwards 
turned out, in the hearing of some one who commu¬ 
nicated the saying to my master, that I had been 
accustomed to live with a gentleman and not with a 
rogue; and, finding that he had been informed of 
this, I had the additional dread of a few hundred 
lashes for it, on my arrival at my destination. 

About two hours after we started, it began to rain 
very heavily, and continued to do so until we arrived 
at Marianna, about twelve at night, where we were to 
rest till morning. My master here questioned me, as 
to whether I intended to run away or not; and I, not 
then knowing the sin of lying, at once told him that I 
would not. He then gave me his clothes to dry ; I 
took them to the kitchen for that purpose, and he 
retired to bed, taking a bag of clothes belonging to 
me with him, as a kind of security, I presume, for 


52 


MOSES ROPER’S 


my safety. In an hour or two afterwards, I took 
his clothes to him dried, and found him fast asleep. I 
placed them by his side, and said that I would then take 
my own to dry too, taking care to speak loud enough 
to ascertain whether he was asleep or not, knowing 
that he had a dirk and pistol by his side, which he 
would not have hesitated using against me, if I had 
attempted secretly to have procured them. I was 
glad to find, that the effects of his drinking the day 
before had caused his sleeping very soundly, and I 
immediately resolved on making my escape; and 
without loss of time, started with my few clothes 
into the woods, which were in the immediate neigh¬ 
borhood ; and, after running many miles, I came to 
the river Chapoli, which is very deep, and so beset 
with alligators, that I dared not attempt to swim 
across. I paced up and down this river, with the 
hope of finding a conveyance across, for a whole 
day, the succeeding night, and till noon the follow¬ 
ing day, which was Saturday. About twelve o’clock 
on that day I discovered an Indian canoe, which had 
not, from all appearance, been used for some time; 
this, of course, I used to convey myself across, and 
after being obliged to go a little way down the river, 
by means of a piece of wood I providentially found 
in the boat, I landed on the opposite side. Here I 
found myself surrounded by planters looking for me, 
in consequence of which I hid myself in the bushes 
until night, when I again travelled several miles, to 
the farm of a Mr. Robinson, a large sugar planter, 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


53 


where I rested till morning in a field. Afterwards I 
set out, working my way through the woods about 
twenty miles towards the east; this I knew by my 
knowledge of the position of the sun at its rising. 
Having reached the Chattahoochee river, which 
divides Florida from Georgia, I was again puzzled 
to know how to cross; it was three o’clock in the 
day, when a number of persons were fishing ; hav¬ 
ing walked for some hours along the banks, I at 
last, after dark, procured a ferry boat, which not 
being able, from the swiftness of the river, to steer 
direct across, I was carried many miles down the 
river, landing on the Georgian side, from whence I 
proceeded on through the woods two or three miles, 
and came to a little farm house about twelve at night; 
at a short distance from the house, I found an old slave 
hut, into which I went, and informed the old man, who 
appeared seventy or eighty years old, that I had 
had a very bad master, from whom I had run away; 
and asked him if he could give me something to eat; 
having had no suitable food for three or four days ; 
he told me he had nothing but a piece of dry Indian 
bread, which he cheerfully gave me; having eaten 
it, I went on a short distance from the hut, and laid 
down in the wood to rest for an hour or two. All 
the following day (Monday) I continued travelling 
through the woods; I was greatly distressed for want 
of water to quench my thirst, it being a very dry 
country, till I came to Spring creek, which is a wide, 


E 


54 


MOSES ROPER’S 


deep stream, and with some of which I gladly 
quenched my thirst. I then proceeded to cross the 
same by a bridge close by, and continued my way 
till dusk. I came to a gentleman’s house in the 
woods, where I inquired how far it was to the next 
house, taking care to watch an opportunity to ask 
some individual whom I could master, and get away 
from, if any interruption to my progress was attempt¬ 
ed. I went on for some time, it being a very fine 
moonlight night, and was presently alarmed by the 
howling of a wolf very near me, which I concluded 
was calling other wolves to join him in attacking 
me, having understood that they always assemble in 
numbers for such a purpose ; the howling increased, 
and I was still pursued, and the numbers were evi¬ 
dently increasing fast; but I was happily rescued 
from my dreadful fright, by coming to some cattle, 
which attracted the wolves, and saved my life ; for 
I could not get up the trees for safety, they being 
very tall pines, the lowest branches of which were 
at least forty or fifty feet from the ground, and the 
trunks very large and smooth. 

About two o’clock, I came to the house of a Mr. 
Cherry, on the borders of the Flint river; I went up to 
the house, and called them up to beg something to eat; 
but having nothing cooked, they kindly allowed me 
to lie down in the porch, where they made me a 
bed. In conversation with this Mr. Cherry, I dis¬ 
covered that I had known him before, having been 
in a steam boat, the Versailles, some month previous, 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


55 


which sunk very near his house, but which I did not 
at first discern to be the same. I then thought that 
it would not be prudent for me to stop there, and 
therefore told them I was in a hurry to get on, and 
must start very early again, he having no idea who 
I was ; and I gave his son six cents to take me across 
the river, which he did when thejpun was about half 
an hour high, and unfortunately landed me where 
there was a man building a boat, who knew me very 
well, and my former master too,—he calling me by 
name, asked me where I was going. 

I was very much frightened at being discovered, 
but summoned up courage, and said, that my master 
had gone on to Tallahasse by the coach, and that 
there was not room for me, and I had to walk round 
to meet him. I then asked the man to put me into 
the best road to get there, which, however, I knew 
as well as he did, having travelled there before ; he 
directed me the best way, but I of course took the 
contrary direction, wanting to get on to Savannah. 
By this hasty and wicked deception, I saved myself 
from going to Bainbridge prison, which w as close by, 
and to which I should surely have been taken, had 
it been known that I was making my escape. 

Leaving Bainbridge, I proceeded about forty miles, 
travelling all day under a scorching sun through the 
woods, in which I saw many deer and serpents, 
until I reached Thomas Town in the evening. I 
there inquired the way to Augusta of a man whom 
I met, and also asked where I could obtain lodgings 


56 


MOSES ROPER’S 


and was told that there was a poor minister about a 
mile from the place, who would give me lodgings. 
I accordingly went and found them in a little log 
house, where, having awakened the family, I found 
them all lying on the bare boards, where I joined 
them for the remainder of the night. 

In the morning, the old gentleman prayed for me 
that I might be preserved on my journey ; he had 
previously asked me where I was going, and I know¬ 
ing, that if I told him the right place, any that in¬ 
quired of him for me would be able to find me, asked 
the way to Augusta instead of Savannah, my real 
destination. I also told him, that I was partly In¬ 
dian and partly white, but I am also partly African, 
but this I omitted to tell him, knowing if I did, I 
should be apprehended. After I had left this hut, I 
again inquired for Augusta, for the purpose of mis¬ 
leading my pursuers, but I afterwards took my course 
through the woods, and came into a road, called the 
Coflee road, which General Jackson cut down for 
his troops at the time of the war, between the Ame¬ 
ricans and Spaniards, in Florida ; in which road 
there are but few houses, and which I preferred for 
the purpose of avoiding detection. 

After several days I left this road and took a more 
direct way to Savannah, where 1 had to wade through 
two rivers before I came to the Alatamah, which I 
crossed in a ferry boat, about a mile below the place 
where the rivers Oconee and Ocmnlgee run together 
into one river, called the Alatamah. I here met 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


57 


with some cattle drovers, who were collecting cattle 
to drive to Savannah. On walking on before them, 
I began to consider in what way I could obtain a 
passport for Savannah, and determined on the fol¬ 
lowing plan :— 

I called at a cottage, and after I had talked some¬ 
time with the wife, who began to feel greatly for 
me, in consequence of my telling her a little of my 
history, (her husband being out hunting) I pretended 
to show her my passport, feeling for it every where 
about my coat and hat, and not finding it, I went 
back a little way pretending to look for it, but came 
back saying, I was very sorry, but I did not know 
where it was. At last the man came home, carrying 
a deer upon his shoulders, which he brought into 
the yard and began to dress it. The wife then went 
out to tell him my situation, and after long persua¬ 
sion he said he could not write, but that if I could 
tell his son what was in my passport he should 
write me one, and knowing that I should not be able 
to pass Savannah without one, and having heard 
several free colored men read theirs, I thought 
I could tell the lad what to write. The lad sat 
down and wrote what I told him, nearly filling a 
large sheet of paper for the passport, and another 
sheet with recommendations. These being completed, 
I was invited to partake of some of the fresh venison, 
which the woman of the house had prepared for 
dinner, and having done so, and feeling grateful for 
their kindness, I proceeded on my way. Going 


58 


MOSES ROPER’S 


along, I took ray papers out of my pocket, and looking 
at them, although I could not read a word, I per¬ 
ceived that the boy’s writing was very unlike other 
writing that I had seen, and was greatly blotted be¬ 
sides f consequently, I was afraid that these docu¬ 
ments would not answer my purpose, and began to 
consider what other plan I could pursue to obtain 
another pass. 

I had now to wade through another river to which 
I came, and which I had great difficulty in crossing 
in consequence of the water overflowing the banks 
of several rivers to the extent of upwards of twenty 
miles. In the midst of the water, I passed one night 
upon a small island, and the next day I went through 
the remainder of the water. On many occasions I 
was obliged to walk upon my toes, and consequently 
found the advantage of being six feet two inches 
high, and at other times was obliged to swim. In 
the middle of this extremity, I felt it would be im¬ 
prudent for me to return ; for if my master was in 
pursuit of me, my safest place from him was in the 
water, if I could keep my head above the surface. 
I was, however, most dreadfully frightened, and 
most earnestly prayed that 1 might be kept from a 
watery grave, and resolved that, if again I landed, I 
would spend my life in the service of God. 

Having through mercy again started on my jour¬ 
ney, 1 met with the drovers, and having, whilst in 
the waters, taken the pass out of my hat, and so 
dipped it in the water as to spoil it, I showed it to 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


59 


the men, and asked them where I could get another. 
They told me that in the neighborhood there lived a 
rich cotton merchant, who would write me one. 
They took me to him, and gave their word that they 
saw the passport before it was wet, (for I had pre¬ 
viously showed it to them,) upon which the cotton 
planter wrote a free pass and a recommendation, to 
which the cow drovers affixed their marks. 

The recommendation was as follows : 

“ John Roper, a very interesting young lad, whom 
I have seen and travelled with for eighty or ninety 
miles on his road from Florida, is a free man, de¬ 
scended from Indian and White. I trust he will be 
allowed to pass on without interruption, being con¬ 
vinced from what I have seen that he is free, and 
though dark, is not an African. I had seen his pa¬ 
pers before they were wetted.” 

These cow drovers, who procured me the pass¬ 
port and recommendation from the cotton planter, 
could not read; and they were intoxicated when 
they went with me to him. I am part African, as 
well as Indian and White, my father being a white 
man, Henry Roper, Esq., Caswell county, North 
Carolina, U. S., a very wealthy slaveholder, who 
sold me when quite a child, for the strong resem¬ 
blance I bore to him. My mother is part Indian, 
part African; but I dared not disclose that, or I should 
have been taken up. I then had eleven miles to go 
to Savannah, one of the greatest slaveholding cities 
in America, and where they are always looking out 


60 


MOSES ROPER’S 


for runaway slaves. When at this city, I had tra¬ 
velled about five hundred miles.* It required great 
courage to pass through this place. I went through 
the main street with apparent confidence, though 
much alarmed ; did not stop at any house in the 
city, but went down immediately to the dock, and 
inquired for a berth, as a steward to a vessel to New 
York. I had been in this capacity before on the 
Appalachicola river. The person whom I asked to 
procure me a berth was steward of one of the New 
York packets; he knew Captain Deckay, of the 
schooner Fox, and got me a situation on board that 
vessel, in five minutes after I had been at the docks. 
The schooner Fox was a very old vessel, twenty- 
seven years old, laden with lumber and cattle for 
New York ; she was rotten and could not be insured. 
The sailors were afraid of her; but I ventured on 
board, and five minutes after we dropped from the 
docks into the river. My spirits then began to re¬ 
vive, and I thought I should get to a free country 
directly. We cast anchor in the stream, to keep 
the sailors on, as they were so dissatisfied with the 
vessel, and lay there four days ; during which time 
I had to go into the city several times, which ex¬ 
posed me to great danger, as my master was after 
me, and I dreaded meeting with him in the city. 

* The distance between these places is much less than two hun¬ 
dred miles; but I was obliged to travel round about, in order to 
avoid being caught. 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


Gi 


Fearing the Fox would not sail before I should be 
seized, I deserted her, and went on board a brig 
sailing to Providence, that was towed out by a steam¬ 
boat, and got thirty miles from Savannah. During 
this time I endeavored to persuade the steward to 
take me as an assistant, and hoped to have accom¬ 
plished my purpose ; but the captain had observed 
me attentively, and thought I was a slave, he there¬ 
fore ordered me, when the steamboat was sent back, 
to go on board her to Savannah, as the fine for taking a 
slave from that city to any of the free states is five hun¬ 
dred dollars. I reluctantly went back to Savannah, 
among slaveholders and slaves. My mind was in a sad 
state ; and I was under strong temptation to throw 
myself into the river. I had deserted the schooner 
Fox, and knew that the captain might put me into 
prison till the vessel was ready to sail; if this had 
happened, and my master had come to the jail in 
search of me, I must have gone back to slavery. 
But when I reached the docks at Savannah, the 
first person I met was the captain of the Fox, look¬ 
ing for another steward in my place. He was a 
very kind man, belonging to the free states, and in¬ 
quired if I would go back to his vessel. This usage 
was very different to what I expected, and I gladly 
accepted his offer. This captain did not knpw 
that I was a slave. In about two days we sailed from 
Savannah for New York. 

I am (August, 1834) unable to express the joy I 

F 


62 


MOSES ROPER’S 


now felt. I never was at sea before, and, after I 
had been out about au hour, was taken with sea¬ 
sickness, which continued five days. I was scarce¬ 
ly able to stand up, and one of the sailors was obliged 
to take my place. The captain was very kind to 
me all this time; but even after I recovered, I was 
not sufficiently well to do my duty properly, and 
could not give satisfaction to the sailors, who swore 
at me, and asked me why I shipped, as I was not 
used to the sea. We had a very quick passage; 
and in six days, after leaving Savannah, we were in 
the harbor at Staten Island, where the vessel was 
quarantined for two days, six miles from New York. 
The captain went to the city, but left me aboard 
with the sailors, who had most of them been brought 
up in the slaveholding states, and were very cruel 
men. One of the sailors was particularly angry 
with me because he had to perform the duties of 
my place; and while the captain was in the city, 
the sailors called me to the fore-hatch, where they 
said they would treat me. I went, and while I was 
talking, they threw a rope round my neck and near¬ 
ly choked me. The blood streamed from my nose 
profusely. They also took up ropes with large 
knots, and knocked me over the head. They said 
I was a negro; they despised me; and I expected 
they would have thrown me into the water. When we 
arrived at the city these men, who had so ill treated 
me, ran away that they might escape the punish¬ 
ment which would otherwise have been inflicted on 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 03 

them. When I arrived in the city of New York, I 
thought I was free; but learned I was not, and could 
be taken there. I went out into the country several 
miles, and tried to get employment, but failed, as I 
had no recommendation. I then returned to New 
York ; but finding the same difficulty there to get 
work, as in the country, I went back to the vessel, 
which was to sail eighty miles up the Hudson River, 
to Poughkeepsie. When I arrived, I obtained em¬ 
ployment at an inn, and after I had been there about 
two days, was seized with the cholera, which was 
at that place. The complaint was, without doubt, 
brought on by my having subsisted on fruit only, for 
several days, while I was in the slave states. The 
landlord of the inn came to me when I was in bed, 
suffering violently from cholera, and told me he 
knew I had that complaint, and as it had never been 
in his house, I could not stop there any longer. No 
one would enter my room, except a young lady, 
who appeared very pious and amiable, and had visit¬ 
ed persons with the cholera. She immediately pro¬ 
cured me some medicine at her own expense and 
administered it herself; and, whilst I was groaning 
with agony, the landlord came up and ordered me 
out of the house directly. Most of the persons in 
Poughkeepsie had retired for the night, and I lay 
under a shed on some cotton bales. The medicine 
relieved me, having been given so promptly, and 
next morning I went from the shed and laid on the 
banks of the river below the city. Towards evening, 


64 


MOSES ROPER’S 


I felt much better, and went on in a steamboat to 
the city of Albany, about eighty miles. When I 
reached there, 1 went into the country, and tried 
for three or four days to procure employment, but 
failed. 

At that time, I had scarcely any money, and lived 
upon fruit, so I returned to Albany, where I could 
get no work, as I could not show the recommenda¬ 
tions I possessed, which were only from slave states, 
and I did not wish any one to know I came 
from them. After a time, I went up the western 
canal as steward in one of the boats. When I had 
gone about 350 miles up the canal, I found I was 
going too much towards the slave states, in conse¬ 
quence of which, I returned to Albany, and went up 
the northern canal, into one of the New England 
states—Vermont. The distance I had‘travelled, in¬ 
cluding the 350 miles I had to return from the west, 
and the 100 to Vermont, was 2,300 miles. When I 
reached Vermont, I found the people very hospita¬ 
ble and kind; they seemed opposed to slavery, so I 
told them, I was a run-away slave. I hired myself 
to a firm in Sudbury.* After I had been in Sudbury 


* During my stay in this town, I thought of the vow I made in 
the water, (page 58,) and 1 became more thoughtful about the sal¬ 
vation of my soul. I attended the Methodist chapel, where a 
Mr. Benton preached, and there I began to feel that 1 was a great 
sinner. During the latter part of my stay here, I became more 
anxious about salvation, and I entertained the absurd notion that 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


65 


some time, the neighboring farmers told me that I 
had hired myself for much less money than I ought. 
I mentioned it to my employers, who were very 
angry about it; I was advised to leave by some of 
the people round, who thought the gentlemen I was 
with would write to my former master, informing 
him where I was, and obtain the reward fixed upon 
me. Fearing I should be taken, I immediately left 
and went into the town of Ludlow, where I met 

with a kind friend, Mr. -,* who sent me to 

school for several weeks. At this time, I was ad¬ 
vertised in the papers and was obliged to leave; I 
went a little way out of Ludlow to a retired place, 

and lived two weeks with a Mr. -, deacon of a 

church at Ludlow ; at this place, I could have ob¬ 
tained education, had it been safe to have remained.! 

religion would come to me in some extraordinary way. With this 
impression I used to go into the woods two hours before day-light 
to pray, and expected something would take place, and I should 
become religious. 

* It would not be proper to mention any names, as a person in 
any of the States in America found harboring a slave, would have 
to pay a very heavy fine. 

•f Whilst in this neighborhood, I attended the Baptist meeting, 
and trust the preaching of the gospel was much blessed to my soul. 
As this was the first time I was ever favored with any education, 
I was very intent upon learning to read the Bible, and in a few 
weeks I was able, from my own reading, to repeat by heart the 
whole ot the last chapter of Matthew. I also attended the prayer 
and inquiry meetings, where the attendants used to relate their 
experience, and I w as requested to do the same. I found these 

F* 




60 MOSES roper’s 

From there I went to New Hampshire, where I was 
not safe, so went to Boston, Massachusetts, with 
the hope of returning to Ludlow, to which place I 
was much attached. At Boston, I met with a friend 
who kept a shop, and took me to assist him for 
several weeks. Here I did not consider myself safe, 
as persons from all parts of the country were con¬ 
tinually coming to the shop, and I feared some might 
come who knew me. I now had my head shaved 
and bought a wig, and engaged myself to -a Mr. 
Perkins of Brookline, three miles from Boston, 
where I remained about a month. Some of the 
family discovered that I wore a wig, and said that I 
was a run-away slave, but the neighbors all round 
thought I was a white, to prove which, I have a 
document in my possession to call me to military 
duty. The law is, that no slave or colored person 
performs this, but every other person in America of 
the age of twenty-one is called upon to perform 
military duty, once or twice in the year, or pay a 
fine. 


COPY OF THE DOCUMENT. 

“ Mr. Moses Roper, 

“ You being duly enrolled as a soldier in the 
company, under the command of Captain Benjamin 
Bradley, are hereby notified and ordered to appear 


meetings a great blessing, and they were the means, under God, of 
communicating to my mind a more clear and distinct knowledge of 
the way of salvation by Jesus Christ. 


ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


67 


at the Town House in Brookline, on Friday, 28th 
instant, at 3 o’clock P. M., for the purpose of filling 
the vacancy in said Company, occasioned by the 
promotion of Lieut. Nathaniel M. Weeks, and of 
filling any other vacancy which may then and there 
occur in said Company, and there wait further 
orders. 

“ By order of the Captain, 

E. P. Wentworth, Clerk.” 

“ Brookline , Aug. 14th, 1835.”* 

1 then returned to the city of Boston, to the shop 
were I was before.t Several weeks after I had re¬ 
turned to my situation two colored men informed me 
that a gentleman had been inquiring for a person 
whom, from the description, I knew to be myself, 
and offered them a considerable sum if they would 
disclose my place of abode ; but they being much 
opposed to slavery, came and told me, upon which 


♦Being very tall, I was taken to be twenty-one, but my correct 
age, as far as I can tell, is stated in page 12. 

fDuring the first part of my abode in this city, I attended at the 
colored church in Bellnap street; and I hope I found both profit 
and pleasure in attending the means of divine grace. I now saw 
the wicked part I had taken in using so much deception in making 
my escape. After a time, I found slave-owners were in the habit 
of going to tins colored chapel to look for runaway slaves. I became 
alarmed, and afterwards attended the preaching of the Rev. Dr. 
Sharp. I waited upon the Doctor to request he would baptize me 
and admit me a member of his church; and after hearing my 
experience, he wished me to call again. This I did, but he was 
gone into the couutry, and l saw him no more. 


68 


MOSES ROPF.R’S 


information I secreted myself till I could get off. I 
went into the Green mountains for several weeks, 
from thence to the city of New York, and remained 
in secret several days, till I heard of a ship, the 
Napoleon, sailing to England, and on the 11th of 
November, 1835, I sailed, taking with me letters of 
recommendation to the Rev. Drs. Morison and 
Raffles, and the Rev. Alex. Fletcher. The time I 
first started from slavery was in July, 1834, so that 
I was nearly sixteen months in making my escape. 

On the 29th of November, 1835, I reached Liver¬ 
pool, and my feelings when I first touched the 
shores of Britain were indescribable, and can only be 
properly understood by those who have escaped 
from the cruel bondage of slavery. 

“ Tis liberty alone that gives the flow'er 
Of fleeting life its lustre and perfume, 

And we are weeds without it.” 

** Slaves cannot breathe in England ; 

If there lungs receive our air, that moment they are free. 

They touch our country and their shackles fall.”— Cowper. 

When 1 reached Liverpool, I proceeded to Dr. 
Raffles, and handed my letters of recommendation 
to him. He received me very kindly, and intro¬ 
duced me to a member of his church, with whom I 
stayed the night. Here I met with the greatest 
attention and kindness. The next day, I went on 
to Manchester, where I met with many kind friends, 
among others Mr. Adshead, a hosier of that town, to 
whom I desire, through this medium, to return my 


ESCArE FROM SLAVERY. 


Gtf 


most sincere thanks for the many great services 
which he rendered me, adding both to my spiritual 
and temporal comfort. I would not, however, for¬ 
get to remember here, Mr. Leese, Mr. Childs, Mr. 
Crewdson, and Mr. Clare, the latter of whom gave 
me a letter to Mr. Scoble, the Secretary of the Anti- 
Slavery Society. I remained here several days, and 
then proceeded to London, December 12th, 1835, 
and immediately called on Mr. Scoble, to whom I 
delivered my letter; this gentleman procured me a 
lodging. I then lost no time in delivering my letters 
to Dr. Morison and the Rev. Alexander Fletcher, 
who received me with the greatest kindness, and 
shortly after this Dr. Morison sent my letter from 
New York, with another from himself, to the Patriot 
newspaper, in which he kindly implored the sym¬ 
pathy of the public in my behalf. The appeal was 
read by Mr. Christopherson, a member of Dr. 
Morison’s church, of which gentleman I express 
but little of my feelings and gratitude, when I say 
that throughout he has been towards me a parent, 
and for whose tenderness and sympathy I desire 
ever to feel that attachment which I do not know 
how to express. 

I stayed at his house several weeks, being treated 
as one of the family. The appeal in the Patriot , 
referred to getting a suitable academy for me, which 
the Rev. Dr. Cox recommended at Hackney, where 
I remained half a year, going through the rudiments 
of an English education. At this time, I attended 


70 


MOSES ROPER’S 


the ministry of Dr. Cox, which I enjoyed very 
much, and to which I ascribe the attainment of 
clearer views of divine grace than I had before. I 
had attended here several months, when I expressed 
my wish to Dr. Cox to become a member of his 
church ; I was proposed, and after stating my expe¬ 
rience was admitted, March 31st, 1836. Here I feel 
it a duty to present my tribute of thankfulness, how¬ 
ever feebly expressed, to the affectionate and devoted 
attention of the Rev. Doctor, from whom, under 
God, I received very much indeed of spiritual ad¬ 
vice and consolation, as well as a plentiful adminis¬ 
tration to my temporal necessities. I would not for¬ 
get also to mention the kindness of his church gene¬ 
rally, by whom I was received with Christian love 
and charity. Never, I trust, will be effaced from 
my memory, the parental care of the Rev. Dr. Mo- 
rison, from whom I can strictly say I received the 
greatest kindness I ever met with, and to whom, as 
long as God gives me lips to utter, or mind to reflect, 
I desire to attribute the comfort which I have expe¬ 
rienced since I set my foot upon the happy shores 
of England. 

Here it is necessary that I should draw this nar¬ 
rative to a close; not that my materials are exhausted, 
but that I am unwilling to extend it to a size which 
might preclude many well wishers from the posses¬ 
sion of it. 

But I must remark, that my feelings of happiness, 
at having escaped from cruel bondage, are not un- 


ESCArE FROM SLAVERY. 


71 


mixed with sorrow of a very touching kind. “ The 
land of the free" still contains the mother, the bro¬ 
thers and the sisters of Moses Roper, not enjoying 
liberty, not the possesors of like feelings with me, 
not having even a distant glimpse of advancing to¬ 
wards freedom, but still slaves ! This is a weight 
which hangs heavy on me. As circumstances at 
present stand, there is not much prospect of ever 
again seeing those dear ones—that dear mother, 
from whom, on the Sunday night, I was torn away 
by armed slaveholders, and carried into cruel bon¬ 
dage.* And nothing would contribute so much to 
my entire happiness, if the kindness of a gracious 
Providence should ever place me in such favorable 
circumstances, as to be able to purchase the freedom 
of so beloved a parent. But I desire to express my 
entire resignation to the will of God. Should that 
Divine Being, who made of one flesh all the kin¬ 
dreds of the earth, see fit that I should again clasp 
them to my breast, and see in them the reality of 
free men and free women, how shall I, a poor mor¬ 
tal, be enabled to sing a strain of praise sufficiently 
appropriate to such a boon from heaven. 

But if the All-wise Disposer of all things should 
see fit to keep them still in suffering and bondage, it 
is a mercy to know that he orders all things well, 
that he is still the Judge of all the earth, and that 
under such dispensations of his providence, he i3 


* See Page 30. 


72 


MOSES ROPER’S ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 


working out that which shall be most for the advan¬ 
tage of his creatures. 

Whatever I may have experienced in America, at 
the hands of cruel task-masters, yet I am unwilling 
to speak in any but respectful terms of the land of 
my birth. It is far from my wish to attempt to de¬ 
grade America in the eyes of Britons. I love her 
institutions in the free states, her zeal for Christ; I 
bear no enmity even to the slaveholders, but regret 
their delusions ; many, I am aware, are deeply sen¬ 
sible of the fault, but some, I regret to say, are not, 
and I could wish to open their eyes to their sin; 
may the period come when God shall wipe off this 
deep stain from her Constitution, and may America 
soon be indeed the land of the free. 

In conclusion, I thank my dear friends in England 
for their affectionate attentions, and may God help 
me to show, by my future walk in life, that I am not 
wanting in my acknowledgements of their kindness. 
But above all, to the God of all grace, I desire here, 
before his people, to acknowledge that all the way 
in which he has led me has been the right way, 
and as in his mercy and wisdom he has led me to 
this country, where I am allowed to go free, may 
all my actions tend to lead me on, through the 
mercy of God in Christ, in the right way, to a city 

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